Atlantic 10 Conference · Commissioner Candidate
PROJECT
TREY
A conference-wide competitive and economic strategy designed to help the Atlantic 10 consistently become a multi-bid league and generate as many NCAA Tournament units as possible.
The Foundation
The Core Logic
NCAA Tournament Units
Units are the currency of mid-major survival. Every at-large bid, every tournament win. They compound.
Conference Revenue
Units mean revenue. Every at-large bid pays dividends, now and in future years.
Stability & Relevance
Revenue means stability. Stability means relevance and control over our future.
The Framework
Three Prongs. One Direction.
01 / 03
The Engine
Scheduling, Analytics & Competitive Optimization
Third-party analytics supporting smarter scheduling, Quad distribution planning, and a conference-wide transfer portal database, building rosters and schedules by design, not by accident.
Explore the Data →02 / 03
The Multiplier
Media & Visibility Strategy
Coordinated national media relationships and basketball-native digital content that fills the narrative vacuum and building brand equity where it counts. Traditional credibility. Digital reach.
Explore the Strategy →03 / 03
The Foundation
Revenue Generation & NIL Baseline Support
Conference-level sponsorship, A10 logo co-branding, and vetted partnerships that raise the NIL floor for every member, without mandates or lost institutional autonomy.
Explore the Model →The Outcome
A Repeatable Model.
"This conference already has the coaches, the brands, the venues, and the basketball culture. Project Trey ensures we have the alignment to match."
Meet Craig Pintens →Prong One · The Engine
The Damage Happens Before January
Once conference play begins, the NET does not move nearly as much as people assume. November and December largely determine how teams are perceived, seeded, and selected. This data proves it.
A10 NET Rankings: Dec 29 vs. March 3
Pre-conference = Dec 29, 2025 | Post-conference = Mar 3, 2026 | Change = movement during conference play
| Team | Pre-Conf NET (Dec 29) | Post-Conf NET (Mar 3) | Change in Conference Play |
|---|---|---|---|
| Saint Louis | 27 | 23 | ▲ +4 |
| VCU | 59 | 46 | ▲ +13 |
| Dayton | 87 | 70 | ▲ +17 |
| George Washington | 81 | 86 | ▼ -5 |
| George Mason | 84 | 99 | ▼ -15 |
| Davidson | 118 | 105 | ▲ +13 |
| Saint Joseph's | 246 | 132 | ▲ +114 |
| Duquesne | 168 | 133 | ▲ +35 |
| Rhode Island | 111 | 146 | ▼ -35 |
| Richmond | 109 | 151 | ▼ -42 |
| St. Bonaventure | 101 | 152 | ▼ -51 |
| Fordham | 210 | 181 | ▲ +29 |
| La Salle | 271 | 238 | ▲ +33 |
| Loyola Chicago | 326 | 306 | ▲ +20 |
🔎 Key Insight: Scheduling Is a Conference Responsibility
The data demonstrates that for most Atlantic 10 programs, non-conference scheduling determines the ceiling and floor for the entire season. Teams that entered January in strong NET positions generally maintained or built on that standing. Teams that entered January in weak positions rarely recovered enough to change their tournament narrative. This is not a coaching problem. It is a scheduling information problem. Project Trey addresses it directly by providing every member institution access to analytics-driven scheduling intelligence before contracts are signed.
📊 The National Context
This is not an Atlantic 10 problem. Across all 365 Division I programs, the median NET movement from late December to the end of the regular season is just 18 spots. Exactly 199 teams (54.5% of Division I) moved 20 spots or fewer. The non-conference record is the destination for the majority of college basketball.
Saint Joseph's (+114) is not evidence that conference play can rescue a program. It is a top 0.3% outlier, one of only three teams nationally to move more than 100 spots. St. Bonaventure's −51 decline, while painful, is itself a cautionary tale: a program that entered January ranked 101st and still finished outside the tournament picture. The A10's own median movement (24.5 spots) exceeds the national median, suggesting this conference carries more scheduling volatility than average and has the most to gain from getting intentional about non-conference construction.
💰 The Revenue Math
Each NCAA Tournament unit is worth approximately ~$2 million over a six-year distribution cycle to the conference pool. The entire cost of a conference-level analytics and scheduling intelligence initiative is a fraction of that figure, meaning the program pays for itself the moment it influences a single selection outcome. This is not an expense. It is an investment with a measurable return.
Prong One · Analytics Infrastructure
The Conference-Wide Analytics Platform
Off-the-shelf recruiting tools provide identical data to every program, and none of it is customized to your style of play, your roster needs, or your positional priorities. This is what a purpose-built, A10-specific intelligence platform looks like.
Why Custom Intelligence Changes Everything
The following describes the architecture of a purpose-built, conference-level analytics platform. It draws on the same principles used by programs building proprietary scouting infrastructure, with one key difference: built at the conference level, the cost is shared, the data is richer, and every member institution benefits from a smarter starting point.
Data Integration
NCAA feeds, Synergy play-type data, international stats with full league normalization, and historical transfer success patterns, all in one place, updated in real time throughout the season.
Custom Attribute Weighting
A 100-point scoring system per position, configured separately for each member institution's preferred style of play and roster philosophy. The same player can score differently for VCU than for Dayton, because they should.
Two Recruiting Buckets
High-Major Down: Limited stats, pedigree-based evaluation with usage context.
Low-Major Up: Stat-heavy with conference strength normalization to adjust for competition level and production context.
Conference Strength Normalization
Production means nothing without context. The platform normalizes every player's statistics relative to their conference's strength, so a 15 PPG scorer in the CAA is evaluated against the same framework as a 12 PPG scorer in the ACC.
Portal & International Scouting
Real-time portal entry alerts, red flag monitoring, and international stat translation, including league-by-league normalization for European and global leagues that feed into the college game at increasing volume.
AI-Assisted Evaluation
Social media and news scanning, projection modeling for role fit, and pattern recognition across historical transfer outcomes, applied carefully to reduce risk and improve decision-making. Human judgment always leads.
Position-Specific Scouting Framework
The platform scores players differently by position, weighted by what actually translates at the A10 level. Below is a sample of how position priorities are structured, customizable per institution.
| Position | Primary Evaluation Focus | Key Metrics |
|---|---|---|
| PG | Decision-making & system fit | Pick-and-roll IQ, assist-to-turnover ratio, pace management, usage rate |
| SG | Shot-making & size for level | True shooting %, pull-up efficiency, size benchmarking, combo ability |
| SF | Athleticism & positional versatility | Length metrics, switchability, transition scoring, defensive versatility index |
| PF | Floor spacing & physicality | 3-point rate & efficiency, rebounding rate, screen quality, pick-and-pop IQ |
| C | Rim protection & rebounding | Block rate, contested rebound %, defensive rating impact, mobility score |
How It Works: The Scouting Workflow
Continuous Data Ingestion
Real-time updates from NCAA feeds, Synergy, and international sources throughout the season. Performance spikes, limited games played alerts, and portal entry notifications surface automatically.
Conference-Level Normalization
Every player's production is adjusted for competition level, usage rate, and role. A high-usage star in a weak conference is evaluated differently than a low-usage contributor in a power conference.
Institution-Specific Scoring
The platform applies each member institution's custom attribute weights, generating a fit score that reflects their system rather than a generic ranking. The same prospect surfaces differently for a tempo-and-pace program than a half-court, physical team.
Coach Collaboration Layer
Visual dashboards with coach notes (attributed), printable scout sheets, multi-year performance tracking, and injury/transfer red flag alerts. Coaches add context; the platform surfaces the candidates.
Formal Reporting Cadence
Structured reports at three key moments: preseason (portal landscape), post-non-conference (mid-year targeting), and late February (offseason preparation). The conference never chooses players. It gives schools a smarter starting point.
🎯 The Competitive Argument
In a portal-driven era, information asymmetry is a competitive disadvantage. Programs with better data on player fit, production context, and historical transfer success patterns consistently outperform those relying on traditional scouting alone. At the conference level, the Atlantic 10 can provide this infrastructure at a fraction of what individual schools would spend, and makes every member institution more competitive in the portal simultaneously. This is the conference supporting its schools, not controlling them.
Prong Two · The Multiplier
If We Don't Fill the Vacuum, Someone Else Will
Mid-majors lose in narrative environments. The Atlantic 10 has the coaches, brands, and talent to compete nationally, but without coordinated visibility, that story never reaches a selection committee.
Two Tracks. One Direction.
Visibility is not one thing. Traditional credibility and digital reach require different relationships, different content, and different strategies, but both serve the same goal: keeping the Atlantic 10 in the conversation from November through Selection Sunday.
Track A · Traditional Credibility
National Writers & Bracketologists
The committees pay attention to what the press pays attention to. Conference-driven story pipelines covering injury context, NET movement, and schedule strength must be proactively fed to the writers who shape perception.
- NET-based context and data narratives delivered in real time
- Conference-driven story pipelines: not reactive, proactive
- Dedicated relationships with bracketologists and beat writers
- Example platform: The Field of 68
Track B · Digital & Creator Media
Basketball-Native Content
The audience for college basketball lives on short-form content. Creator-driven analytics storytelling, done selectively and authentically, reaches audiences no press release ever will.
- Basketball-native content creators with authentic audiences
- Short-form analytics storytelling that reaches fans organically
- Selective, low-cost presence: quality over volume
- Example creator: Jesser
Why Both Tracks Matter
Traditional media shapes committee perception. Digital media shapes recruiting perception and brand equity. A conference that only does one of these is leaving the other battlefield uncontested. The A10 should show up on both.
The Return on Visibility
Scheduling Leverage
Nationally visible programs attract better non-conference opponents, which improves Quad distribution before conference play even begins.
Committee Perception
Selection committees are human. Narrative familiarity, earned through consistent media presence, reduces the uncertainty that costs mid-majors at-large bids.
Recruiting Reach
Portal-era recruits follow the brand. A conference with national digital presence becomes a destination, not just for proven players but for emerging ones.
The Multiplier Effect
"Visibility is not a marketing expense. It is an infrastructure investment. The programs and conferences that tell their story consistently are the ones that earn the close calls. In the NCAA Tournament, close calls are worth approximately $2 million each."
Prong Three · The Foundation
Raise the Floor Without Raising the Burden
The question is not whether A10 institutions are investing in NIL and revenue generation. They are. The question is how the conference unlocks opportunities individual schools cannot access alone, and distributes them in a way that lifts every member without mandates or lost autonomy.
Four Revenue Pillars
Conference-Wide Sponsorship
Categories individual schools cannot fill alone, aggregated at the conference level, delivered through established partnerships with Learfield and Playfly. Conference-level reach commands rates no single program can negotiate independently.
- Multi-school sponsorship packages across all 14 members
- Category exclusivity deals unavailable at the institutional level
- Revenue shared back to member institutions
Monetize Existing Inventory
Fully capture what the conference already owns before creating new revenue streams. Better monetization of conference-level media rights, broadcast packages, and digital inventory leaves significant unrealized value on the table today.
- Audit of current conference media and licensing rights
- Digital rights packaging across platforms
- Streaming and highlight licensing optimization
A10 Logo Co-Branding
There is a third location that is already on every jersey and every basketball floor: the Atlantic 10 logo. It lives on the uniform. It lives in the lane by the free throw line. It is existing conference real estate, and right now, it is unmonetized.
The question worth asking: could the A10 identify a presenting partner and create a co-branded version of that mark, one where the conference brand is still protected, the execution is tasteful and coordinated, and participation is optional for member institutions? This is not a mandate. It is an examination.
And if the A10 doesn't explore it, others will. The Big 12 and other power conferences are likely to move toward co-branded conference marks by using the logo placement that already exists in the lane by the free throw line as a third-location sponsorship asset. The A10 should be at that table, not watching from the outside.
- Existing real estate: no new logo locations, no new permissions required
- Co-branded mark: presenting partner appears alongside the A10 logo
- Optional: no institutional mandate, conference sets the standard
- A10 brand governance and approval rights fully protected
- Revenue coordinated back to NIL baseline and program support
Vetted Capital Partnerships
The NIL landscape has evolved far beyond brand deals and social media. Private equity and venture capital are now actively moving into college athletics, investing in athlete platforms and building revenue infrastructure around programs with national visibility. The precedents are already being set: the University of Utah struck an individual school PE deal, and the Big Ten has explored a conference-wide private equity arrangement. This is no longer a future conversation. It is a present one.
Project Trey proposes a conference-level framework to identify, evaluate, and engage PE and VC partners on the Atlantic 10's terms, with institutional governance protections built in. The conference moves as one. Every member participates in the structure, and every member benefits from the diligence.
- Private equity: revenue-share models, long-term capital, conference-level deal structure
- Venture capital: athlete-facing platforms, NIL marketplaces, tech-enabled recruitment tools
- Conference-vetted: partners screened on institutional fit, legal compliance, and long-term stability
- Transparent governance and reporting structure across all relationships
The NIL Floor Principle
The goal is not to close the gap with power conferences overnight. The goal is to make sure no A10 school loses a recruit or a transfer because the conference infrastructure wasn't there to help. A rising floor lifts every program.
The Financial Logic
~$2M
Value of a single NCAA Tournament unit over the six-year distribution cycle, representing what every at-large bid is worth to the conference pool.
2.0
Average NCAA Tournament units earned per year by the A10 over the last five tournaments (2021 to 2025), worth approximately $4M annually to the conference pool. Project Trey is designed to raise that floor.
14
Member institutions that benefit when conference-level revenue infrastructure is built, and every school participates on its own terms.
The Foundation Principle
"The conference's job is not to choose winners. It is to make sure the floor is high enough that every member can compete, and that the resources to do so don't require any school to sacrifice what makes it distinctly itself."
Commissioner Candidate
Craig Pintens
Athletic Director · Loyola Marymount University
Craig Pintens
Athletic Director
Loyola Marymount University
Craig Pintens serves as the Athletic Director at Loyola Marymount University, where he has built a reputation for innovative leadership, athlete-centered administration, and a data-forward approach to competitive strategy.
His vision for the Atlantic 10, Project Trey, reflects a career built on the conviction that information, alignment, and strategic clarity are the multipliers that separate good programs from great conferences.
Pintens brings direct experience in NIL ecosystem development, analytics infrastructure, media rights strategy, and conference-level partnership development, making him uniquely positioned to execute the three-prong framework outlined in this presentation.
His approach to the commissioner role is rooted in collaboration, not control. The conference's job is to unlock opportunities individual schools cannot access alone, and to build the alignment that allows every member institution to compete at the highest level.